Playing-card



I (No Model.)

J. W. HYATT. PLAYING CARD.

No. 484,798. PatentedOct. 25 -1892.

Fig.1.

Fig.2. 5

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W..I-IYATT, OF NEWARK, NElV JERSEY.

PLAYING-CARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,798, dated October 25, 1892.

Application filed October 30, 1891- Serial No. 410,318- (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. HYATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing- Oards, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The article claimed herein is intended to supply the following essential requirements 1n a playing-card: first, that it shall be sufficiently opaque; second, that it shall not split at the edges in handling; third, that it shall be fiat and elastic; fourth, that it shall not warp or be otherwise affected by moisture; fifth, that it shall haveasurface adapted for printlng, and, sixth, that it shall not be readily soiled when printed. These requirements are met by a special treatment of vegetable parchment.

A single thickness of mere vegetable parchment is incapable of splitting, and it is also smooth and elastic, but is so translucent that the design of a playing card would show through the same, andit is so sensitive to moisturethat it iswarped and curled if laid upon the palm of the hand, while it also has a yellowish horny color, which is not desirable for a handsome playing-card. These defects in the vegetable parchment are overcome and all the above-mentioned requirements satisfied by combining a single thickpess ofvegetable parchment with a coating o f gpaqhe pigment of suit cgle color mixed with sa castic drying-oil or otllTefTltstic waterproof medium. Such a coating is permanently elastic, and is thus not only adapted to prevent cracking during the bending and handling to which cards are subjected, but is also adapted to yield sufficiently in printing to take a clear impression of the printed design.

The annexed drawings represent my improved article, Figure 1 showing the face of a playing-card, and Fig. 2 a cross-section of the same.

a is the body of the card, formed of vegetable parchment, and b is the opaque coating applied to its opposite sides. The material may be prepared of a single thickness of blotting paper parchmentized by any known method and dried under tension to make it flat, and it is then ready to receive the opaque pigment. Zinc-white ground in oil is of suitable color and forms an opaque coating when applied to the parchment. The color of the pigment must in any case be suitable to receive the design of the playing-card,which, it is well known, is always printed upon a white surface, so as to show the design more clearly. Such pigment when ground with oil or other waterproof medium adheres permanently to the parchment and renders it perfectly opaque and waterproof. When the opaque coating is sufficiently hardened, the designs 0 of the several cards are printed upon its surface and finishedin the usual way, a thin Waterproof lacquer being applied over the design, if desired. The printed sheet is then passed between calendar-rolls or pressed between sheets of polished metal to smooth the same. The playing-cards are then cut from the sheet and are, excepting the edges, practically waterproof and not affected by handling or by washing the surface, although the body of the vegetable parchment is exposed in the edge of each card and would be affected by protracted immersion in water.

It is essential that the waterproof medium should be elastic when dry, as if formed of a hard-drying varnish it would be liable to crack the edges of the cards when out from the sheet of parchment and when the cards are bent and handled in use. The elasticity of the coating is also very desirable to receive a clear and perfectimpression of the printed design.

The card-board of which the best playingcards are made consists of paper of the best quality pasted together in several layers, and is thus necessarily more costly than the material I use, as blotting-paperis made of much cheaper fiber than fine qualities of paper, and only a single thickness is used in my invention. It will therefore be evident that my construction involves less cost for the material and labor than the use of card-board,wl1ile the product is superior in elasticity, finish, durability, and cleanliness to any playingcard made of card-board.

I do not claim the more use of vegetable parchment in a playing-card, as such material without the treatment I have described is entirely valueless for such purpose on account of its translucent character, horny color,

and its susceptibility to moisture. Neither do I claim the mere waterproofing of vegetable parchment, as that has been done by means of india-rubber and sulphur subsequently heated to vulcanize the india-rubber. It is well known that india-rubber can never be rendered entirely white, and such a means of waterproofing vegetable parchment is not therefore suitable for my invention, as a white card is commonly required. I have found by experiment that an opaque pigment of white color ground in oil or other waterproof medium is most suitable for the purpose and superior to any other coating.

JOHN W. HYATT.

Witnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, FRANK L. MORTON. 

